rescuing, as such. But there are dragons in our tribe, and they will sometimes let their wives use them for transportation and scouting.
It doesn’t take me long to realize we’re being watched and maybe followed. I test it a few times, suddenly stopping short and listening for noises behind me in the woods. Each time, there’s a crunching sound that could be a light footstep, but which could also be my imagination. Except on Xren, it’s always better to assume that your suspicions are indeed dangers, even if they’re really not.
It doesn’t worry me too much. I’m in the company of a dragon. If someone wants to attack us, I don’t think I can stop him from tearing them limb from limb.
Caronerax and I walk all day, through a mostly pine forest that still seems to be on a steady downslope. I tell myself that it’s getting gradually warmer, too.
We reach a small dell, like a bowl in the ground. There is no vegetation in a perfect circle around it, and there are only boulders and other round rocks in the bottom. They have a wet sheen to them, and there’s a small puddle of water at the bottom of the hollow.
A gust of wind reaches me, warm and humid. It bears a smell I can’t quite place, but which isn’t pleasant and still somehow reminds me of my friend Dolly.
Caronerax walks straight down the rocky bowl, and I carefully follow. This whole place reminds me of something I’ve never seen myself, only heard of and seen pictures of.
I stop. “Caronerax,” I call, “maybe it would be better to walk around?”
He doesn’t reply, just keeps walking.
As he nears the bottom, a strange, liquid rumbling fills the air.
“Caronerax!” I yell. “Get away from there! Run!”
11
- Jennifer -
The dragon walks on, undeterred in the most stubbornly male way.
As he passes the bottom of the bowl, he stops and looks down as if puzzled.
At that same moment, a gigantic stream of water and steam explodes up from the ground with a deafening hiss, hits the dragon right in the crotch, and throws him into the air.
He cartwheels inside the huge pillar of steam until I lose sight of him, because I have to throw myself down when the hot water rains from above.
The droplets have cooled down and don’t hurt me when they fall, but the dragon gives off a loud “oof” when he hits the ground right next to the hole.
The huge expulsion of boiling water has stopped as quickly as it started, leaving only a pool of bubbling water and a small cloud of steam that drifts innocently away.
I run down the bowl, trying not to slip on the wet boulders. I know that smell now — it’s sulfur, of course, the stuff Dolly uses to make gunpowder for our blunderbusses.
Before I can reach him, Caronerax slowly gets to his feet.
“That’s a curious thing,” he says, pinning his wet hair back. “Some kind of trap.”
“We call them geysers,” I tell him, relieved he’s not hurt. “They’re natural phenomena. Not all that common, but well known. This is the first I’ve heard of on Xren, though. How badly did it burn you?”
He looks down himself. He’s dripping with water, and his pants and boots are soaked. The skin looks as blue and fresh as ever. “Not badly. No, it must have been a trap. I intended to trigger it. And I did.”
“Looked like it hit you right in the… well, I’m glad it wasn’t me. You’re a tough dragon, Caronerax.”
“Perhaps. Yes, I am also glad it wasn’t you. It would have burned the skin off you.”
I shudder. “Let’s get away from here before it happens again.”
He peers down into the hole. “I don’t know. It was quite enjoyable. I will make a note of this place for when I need boiling again.”
Yeah, he’s trying to save his pride. But he comes with me to the other side of the bowl, and we climb out of it to the rim.
There’s more shimmery light to the south, which means another lake.
I look up at him. “Do you know we’re being followed?”
“We’re being spied on by two different parties,” Caronerax says with a complete lack of concern, peering ahead with his hands on his hips. “Possibly more. It’s a fact of life for a dragon — we’re scary, but there’s always someone who finds us so attractive they can’t look away. There are spies everywhere. Quite harmless, usually.”